Favorite Corners - Lisbon
There is something about Lisbon that invites you to turn that one more corner (and see a woman singing Fado in the streets), unlock the windows (and let the neighbor's cat in for a midnight visit), or gather your resolve and climb that next hill out of seven (and get that amazing city view). To put it mildly, we fell in love with Lisbon. We stayed two weeks, which was just enough time. Any longer, and we would have been trying to find a way to stay here permanently.
The Alfama district is one of the few areas that didn't get destroyed during devastating 1755 earthquake that registered a 9 on the Richter scale. Although one of the oldest, and most original areas of Lisbon, there are still glimpses of new life.
The awesome bookstore Ler Devagar has not only books, but a bar and dim sum place on the main level, a cafe on the second, and a kinetic art display on the third.
Welcome to the LX Factory, a small strip of street with cafes, artist lairs, and funky stores.
These public street screen cameras can be found around Lisbon. You choose your background, take a picture, and then email it.
After our stint in Asia, I wasn't sure what a European museum on the Orient could offer, but the Museu do Oriente was surprisingly interesting with a whole floor dedicated to shadow puppets and an interesting viewpoint of the orient from a Portuguese exploration and colonization perspective.
Bertrand bookshop. Officially the oldest bookshop in the world, and the perfect place to pick up some poetry by beloved Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.
The Moorish influence in the Alfama district means lots of corners and winding roads. If you look closely, under the graffiti, you can see some of the tile work that covers many of the buildings in Lisbon.
The trams have become a tourist attraction and are super busy, so we usually opted to walk or take the metro.
A nice little side street in Lisbon.
Designed by the students of Eiffel, the Elevador de Santa Justa will take people up from one street level to another.
For now, all of the sidewalks and squares of Lisbon are paved in black and white limestone. There is a movement to replace the sidewalks with less slippery concrete which would be a shame. This is the first design from Rossio square symbolizing the waves of the ocean.
The Carmo Convent is a historical building with a neat little museum housed in the cloisters. The roof was left off in remembrance of the 1755 earthquake.
A quiet place to wander, the Cemitério Alto de São João holds rows upon rows of these little mausoleums.
A quick ferry ride across the Tagu River lies the area of Almada. A great (and green) place to relax for the day, and watch the river for mermaids like they did back in the old days.
Good-bye Lisbon. Obrigada!
“Oh salty sea, so much of your salt
Are tears of Portugal!
For us to cross you, many mothers
cried,
Many children prayed in vain!
Many brides were left unmarried
So that you could be ours, Oh sea!
Was it worth it? Everything is worth
If the soul is not small.
Whoever wants to go beyond
Bojador
Must go beyond sorrow.
God gave danger and abyss to the
sea,
But it was there that He mirrored the
sky.”